Electronic voting apparatus and method for optically scanned ballot

ABSTRACT

A machine readable ballot comprises a ballot sheet having a voting identifier including a representation of election jurisdiction information and a unique ballot identifier. A plurality of contest regions each have two or more mark spaces for making voting selections. The contest regions correspond to contests in the jurisdiction represented by the election jurisdiction information, and the representation of election jurisdiction information and the mark spaces are machine readable.

[0001] This Application claims the benefit of:

[0002] U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/326,265 filed Oct. 1,2001, of

[0003] U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/341,633 filed Dec. 18,2001,

[0004] U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/377,824 filed May 3,2002,

[0005] U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/382,033 filed May 20,2002,

[0006] U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/385,118 filed May 30,2002,

[0007] U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/389,635 filed Jun. 17,2002, and

[0008] U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/403,151 filed Aug. 12,2002.

[0009] The present invention relates to a voting apparatus and methodand, in particular, to voting apparatus and method employing anoptically read ballot.

[0010] Under current election law and regulations in certainjurisdictions, a paper record of certain voter's voting selections mustbe made and preserved. Most commonly, a paper voting record or ballotmust be utilized for absentee voting and/or for provisional voting.Absentee voting is where a voter who will be absent from thejurisdiction or otherwise unable to be present at a designated pollinglocation during the time for voting is issued a paper ballot in advanceof the election and votes by completing and submitting the paperabsentee ballot by hand, mail, messenger, or other permitted means.Provisional voting is where a voter who is unable to establish hiseligibility to vote at a polling place during an election is issued apaper ballot and is permitted to vote thereby “provisionally,” i.e. bysealed paper provisional ballot that is only opened and counted if theeligibility of the provisional voter to vote is established by electionofficials after the time for voting ends.

[0011] Irrespective of whether a jurisdiction utilizes paper ballots ormore modem electronic voting machines, absentee and provisional ballotsmust be handled separately and counted manually by election officials,i.e. apart from the votes recorded by voters voting normally (e.g., byvoting machine) in the election, and may delay the completion oftabulating the voting results and/or the certification thereof

[0012] Certain jurisdictions even require a paper absentee and/orprovisional ballot even where the absentee and/or provisional voting isdone on an electronic (DRE) voting machine. In addition, because thepaper ballots approved for being counted are placed into groups so thatthey are anonymous for counting, there is no way for a voter to knowwhether his vote was counted and/or was counted correctly.

[0013] The prevalent paper ballot is an optically read or opticallyscanned paper ballot on which a voter marks his voting selections bydarkening or otherwise marking one or more regions typically indicatedby an outline in the shape of a circle, oval, rectangle, square or otherdesired closed shape. A different paper ballot, i.e. a customizedballot, is typically required to be prepared for each election andjurisdiction, e.g., voting district or precinct. In addition, acorresponding customized template must be provided for each differentpaper ballot, thereby necessitating the manual sorting of the paperballots by voting district or precinct and the separate reading/scanningthereof for each voting district or precinct.

[0014] Accordingly, it would be desirable to have an apparatus and amethod for processing paper ballots, such as optically scanned oroptically read ballots, in a more efficient manner and preferably onesuitable for use with a modern electronic (e.g., DRE) voting machine

[0015] To this end, a machine readable ballot of one aspect of theinvention comprises a ballot sheet having a voting identifier regionthereon wherein a voting identifier includes a representation ofjurisdiction information and a unique ballot identifier and having aplurality of contest regions thereon, each contest region having two ormore mark spaces therein for making voting selections. The contestregions correspond to contests in the jurisdiction represented by thejurisdiction information, and the representation of jurisdictioninformation and the mark spaces are machine readable.

[0016] According to another aspect, a reader for reading ballotscomprises a transport path for transporting ballots, means for imagingeach ballot transported including imaging a jurisdiction identifier andthe voting selections marked thereon; and a processor receiving theimaged jurisdiction identifier for selecting a template and forrecording the voting selections marked on each ballot in accordance withthe selected template.

[0017] According to a further aspect, a method for reading ballotscomprises:

[0018] transporting the ballots on a reader transport path;

[0019] reading each ballot transported on said transport path includingreading a jurisdiction identifier thereof and voting selections markedthereon; and

[0020] processing the jurisdiction identifier for each ballot forselecting a template; and

[0021] recording the voting selections marked on each ballot inaccordance with the selected template.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0022] The detailed description of the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention will be more easily and better understood when read inconjunction with the FIGURES of the Drawing which include:

[0023]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example ballotintended to be read by an optical reader;

[0024]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example format for avoter identifier (VID);

[0025]FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C are schematic diagrams illustrating ageneralized example ballot intended to be read by an optical reader;

[0026]FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example ballotincluding ranked and/or cumulative voting that is intended to be read byan optical reader;

[0027]FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an example ballotgenerating apparatus;

[0028]FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an example votingapparatus;

[0029]FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example ballotreader for reading optically read ballots of the sorts illustrated inFIGS. 1, 3A-3C and 4;

[0030]FIG. 8 is a schematic flow diagram of an example ballot readingprocess compatible with the apparatus of FIG. 7;

[0031]FIG. 9 is a schematic flow diagram of an example process forgenerating the ballots of FIGS. 1, 3A-3C and 4; and

[0032]FIG. 10 is a schematic flow diagram of an example voting processutilizing the ballot of FIGS. 1, 3A-3C and 4.

[0033] In the Drawing, where an element or feature is shown in more thanone drawing figure, the same alphanumeric designation may be used todesignate such element or feature in each figure, and where a closelyrelated or modified element is shown in a figure, the samealphanumerical designation primed may be used to designate the modifiedelement or feature. Similarly, similar elements or features may bedesignated by like alphanumeric designations in different figures of theDrawing and with similar nomenclature in the specification, but in theDrawing are followed by a character unique to the embodiment described.It is noted that, according to common practice, the various features ofthe drawing are not to scale, and the dimensions of the various featuresare arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

[0034] The arrangement of the present application operates inconjunction with an electronic voting machine, also referred to aselectronic voting apparatus and/or as a direct recording electronic(DRE) voting apparatus. Suitable voting apparatus, and methods employedtherewith, are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/737,306entitled “Electronic Voting Apparatus, System and Method” filed Dec. 15,2000 and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/______ entitled“Electronic Voting Apparatus, System and Method” filed Sep. 26, 2002(Applicant's No. AI-TECH-30A), which applications are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0035]FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example ballot 100 intended tobe read by an optical reader. Ballot 100 includes four regions 110 eachcontaining information pertaining to a particular election contest orquestion and a number of marking regions or mark spaces 112 therein inwhich a voter makes a mark to select one or more voting selections forthe particular election contest or question. Mark spaces 112 may be anyconvenient closed shape and provide a defined area in a defined locationin which a voter marks his voting selections by darkening or otherwisemarking therein. Mark spaces 112 are typically indicated by an outlinein the shape of a circle, oval, rectangle, square or other desiredclosed shape. After the ballot 100 is marked by the voter, it is voted(e.g., deposited in a ballot box or otherwise submitted) and is read andtabulated, typically by a reading machine or reader that optically readsor senses the defined mark spaces to determine whether each mark space112 is marked or unmarked, thereby indicating a voting selection. Thereading machine is programed to define a “template” corresponding to thelocations on the ballot where each of the contests/questions 110 and therespective mark spaces 112 therefor are located.

[0036] In the example illustrated, a first region 110 designated“General Election (¼)” contains the names and party affiliations ofcandidates for “President and Vice President” and a mark space 112 foreach set of candidates, as well as mark spaces 1 12 for a “Skip Contest”or “No Vote” (abstain) selection 114 and for a write-in candidateselection 116. A second region 110 designated “General Election({fraction (2/4)})” contains the names and party affiliations ofcandidates for “United States Representative (District 16)” and a markspace 112 for each candidate, as well as mark spaces 112 for a “SkipContest” or “No Vote” (abstain) selection 114 and for a write-incandidate selection 116. A third region 110 designated “General Election(¾)” contains the names and party affiliations of candidates for “StateSenator” and a mark space 112 for each candidate, as well as mark spaces112 for a “Skip Contest” or “No Vote” (abstain) selection 114 and for awrite-in candidate selection 116. A fourth region 110 designated“General Election ({fraction (4/4)})” contains a question put before thevoters designated as “State Question 214” and a mark space 112 for a“Yes” or “No” selection, as well as a mark space for a “Skip Contest” or“No Vote” (abstain) selection 114.

[0037] In addition, each ballot includes a voter registration number120, also known as a voter identifier number or voter identificationnumber, commonly abbreviated as “VID.” Identifier or VID 120 ispreferably located at a predefined location on ballot 100, e.g., nearthe upper right hand corner as illustrated. VID 120 may be provided inany convenient machine readable format, including but not limited to abar code, two-dimensional bar code, a prescribed font, optical characterrecognition (OCR) characters, alphanumeric characters, non-alphanumericcharacters, symbols, and the like. Typically, however, a human-readablenumber 120N and an equivalent simple machine-readable bar code 120C aresatisfactory.

[0038]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example format 380for a voter identifier (VID) 120. VID 120 is a sequence of numbers orother alphanumeric characters or symbols that uniquely identify a voterand provide voting information relating to the voter that may beutilized by a voting machine or by a ballot reading machine or byelection officials. VID format 380 includes, for example, six differentinformational fields 381-386. Field 381 includes a number of characters,typically 3, that uniquely identify the voter's state of residence andfield 382 includes a number of characters, typically 3, that uniquelyidentify the voter's county of residence. Fields 381-386 may be used forautomatic reading and tabulation of different ballots without manual orother sorting prior to their being read and tabulated, as well as forabsentee and provisional voting. While a three-digit numerical field istypical, providing up to 999 different entries, two-digit fields may beutilized where a lesser number (i.e. 99 or less) of possible entries areneeded, as in the United States where there are only 50 states. Anyfield may be of greater or lesser number of characters as is convenient.

[0039] Field 383 includes a number of characters, typically 4, thatuniquely identify the voter's municipality of residence. Field 384includes a number of characters, typically 2, that uniquely identify thevoter's voting precinct or district within the county or municipality,and field 385 includes a number of characters, typically 2, thatuniquely identify the voter's voting ward, if any, within the votingprecinct or district. Field 386 includes a number of characters,typically 2, that uniquely identify the voter's political partyaffiliation if any has been declared and may be utilized for presentingthe ballot of the declared political party for voting in a party primaryelection or for straight party voting, where permitted.

[0040] Field 387 includes a number of characters, typically 4-10, thatuniquely identifies the particular ballot in the applicable county,voting precinct, district and/or ward, as the case may be. The randomgenerated number, field 387, is a randomly-generated unique identifierthat is printed on a ballot prior to the election, and may or may not betraceable to the identity of a particular voter, as desired for securityand privacy. The same unique identifiers as are printed on paperballots, e.g., for absentee and/or provisional voting, may be stored ina voting machine or in a vote tabulating machine for verifying theauthenticity and uniqueness of ballot when it is tabulated.

[0041] In the United States, voting is typically conducted on a state bystate basis, and most states delegate to its counties the conduct ofelections. In local voting, i.e. voting wherein a particular votingmachine is dedicated for voting by voters of a particular county,municipality, precinct, district or ward, fields 382-385 may be utilizedby the voting machine or vote tabulating machine to verify that thevoter is using the proper ballot form before the voting session isinitiated and/or before the voting selections marked on the ballot aretabulated, e.g., in provisional voting. Typically in local voting, thevoting machine is situated in a location in a particular precinct,district or ward and voters from that particular voting precinct,district or ward come to that location to vote, and provisional and/orabsentee voters may vote using such voting machines even though theirvoting selections are then reproduced on a printed ballot, e.g., asprinted by a printer associated with the voting machine.

[0042] Data from fields 381-386 is utilized to select the voting screensand/or voting contests to be presented on a voting machine and/or on oneor more printed ballot sheets that together comprise a proper completeelection ballot for that voter in a given election. Each voting machinemay generate on a voter-by-voter basis a complete election ballot byselectively combining, for example, a “general ballot” including one ormore voting contests 110 that are to be presented to all voters, a“residence-specific ballot” including one or more voting contests 110 tobe presented to voters according to their residence, and/or a“party-specific ballot” including one or more voting contests 110 to bepresented to voters in a party primary election according to their partyaffiliation. Thus, a voting machine and/or ballot printer is notconstrained or limited to local voting, but may be utilized forcounty-wide or state-wide or nationwide voting, for regional voting,and/or for remote voting.

[0043] Where voters are issued a chip card or smart card containing hisVID number 120 and an electronic voting machine is utilized for printingpaper ballots, the voting machine is responsive to voting jurisdictioninformation 381-386 read from each voter's chip card for providing aballot to the voter and may retain the chip card for the writing of thevoter's voting selections therein and then collects the chip card in acollection container or may allow an election official to have the chipcard. Optionally, the voting machine and/or vote tabulating machine mayreject the chip card and/or the paper ballot 100 if the voterregistration information 381-386 and/or the unique identifier 387 readtherefrom do not match corresponding information stored in the votingmachine and/or vote tabulating machine, and may return or collect thechip card. In either case, the chip card once inserted into the votingmachine may be retained in a way that the voter may not retrieve thechip card, e.g., for securing the card against use to vote more thanonce. For provisional voting, the chip card may be likewise retaineduntil the voting selections of a provisional voter are stored therein,and then may be returned to the provisional voter and/or a votingofficial, e.g., with a proper authorization. Unique identifiers 387 onceused for an election may be “retired” and not used in one or moresubsequent elections as a means to reduce the likelihood of fraudulentin a future election, e.g., either as a VID number 120 and/or by acounterfeit smart card.

[0044]FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C are schematic diagrams illustrating ageneralized example ballot 100 intended to be read by an optical reader.Generalized ballot format 100R of FIG. 3A has a plurality of locations112′ at which mark spaces 112 may be provided and has a region 120′ inwhich a VID number 120 may be represented. Ballot format 100R isgeneralized in that it illustrates all possible mark space locations112′ and a relatively large region in which a VID number 120representation may be provided. An actual ballot format will typicallybe on a standardized paper, such as an 80-column machine readable cardor an 8½×11 inch or an A size paper, and have many more possible markspace locations 112′.

[0045] In any particular ballot 100, less than all of possible markspace locations 112′ will be utilized as mark spaces 112 and less thanthe entire region 120′ will typically be utilized for providing the VIDnumber 120 representation. Generalized ballot format 100R represents aballot pattern from which particular ballots 100 and areas forparticular contests 110, each utilizing specific selected ones of markspace locations 112′, according to a template, may be provided.

[0046]FIG. 3B illustrates an example ballot 100B which is provided froma ballot format 100R on which contest regions 110 are defined by dashedlines 118 in the region having the possible mark spaces 112′ and inwhich ones of possible mark spaces 112′ to be utilized for markingvoting selections are mark spaces 112 defined by solid line circles. Thedashed lines 118 defining contest regions 110 and the mark spaces 112that may be selected together define a template for ballot 100B, i.e.define the pattern by which voting selections will be marked for each ofplural voting contests as well as the pattern by which voting selectionswill be read by a vote tabulating machine or reader for each of thevoting contests in tabulating the vote. The template of ballot 100Bdefines four contest areas 110 of the same size, with each having threeactive mark spaces 112. Each three mark space contest 110-3 might beutilized, e.g., for a contest among three candidates, or for a contestamong three candidates where mark spaces are provided for a “No Vote”selection and a write-in selection, or for a public question or other“Yes-No” response matter where a mark space is provided for a “No Vote”or “Abstain” selection.

[0047]FIG. 3C illustrates an example ballot 100R which is provided froma ballot format 100R on which contest regions 110 are defined by dashedlines 118 in the region having the possible mark spaces 112′ and inwhich ones of possible mark spaces 112′ to be utilized for markingvoting selections are mark spaces 112 defined by solid line circles. Thedashed lines 118 defining contest regions 110 and the mark spaces 112that may be selected together define a template for ballot 100R, i.e.define the pattern by which voting selections will be marked andtabulated. The template of ballot 100R defines four contest areas 110 oftwo different sizes, one having five active mark spaces 112, and threehaving two mark spaces 112. The five mark space contest 110-5 might beutilized, e.g., for a contest among five candidates or for a contestamong three candidates where mark spaces are provided for a “No Vote” or“Abstain” selection and for a write-in selection. Each two-mark spacecontest 110-2 may be utilized, e.g., for a public question or other“Yes-No” response matter.

[0048]FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example ballot 100including ranked and/or cumulative voting that is intended to be read byan optical reader. Ballot 100 includes a plurality of contest areas 110(each having a region “NAME and other features of the contest” in whichinformation identifying the particular contest and mark spaces forselecting a candidate are placed) and has a VID area 120, as describedabove. A first contest area 110-R is arranged for conducting rankedvoting wherein the voter may rank the candidates in his order ofpreference. In this example, five candidates may be ranked. Filling onemark space 112 indicates first choice ranking, filling two mark spaces112 indicates second choice ranking, and so forth. The opposite sense,where marking a greater number of mark spaces for a candidate indicatesa greater preference, could also be utilized. Thus, five mark spaces 112are associated with each candidate's name and with each write-incandidate position 116.

[0049] Ranked voting may be utilized for conducting an “instant run-off”where no candidate or an insufficient number of candidates receivessufficient first-choice votes to be elected (e.g., fails to receive amajority of the votes cast) under the election rules in effect. If nocandidates win or fewer than the required number win, a run-off electionis required. Conventionally the run-off election occurs later in timeand incurs the expense of conducting a second election. In an instantrun off, so called because the voting needed for the run off are cast inthe initial election and so are immediately (“instantly”) available. Inan instant run-off election, candidate(s) receiving the least firstchoice votes are eliminated and the voters' second choice rankings ofcandidates other than those eliminated are then counted to determine thewinner(s). One mark space 112 is provided to skip the entire contestand/or to abstain 114 for the balance of that contest, i.e. tointentionally under vote. The voting apparatus and ballots describedherein permit an instant run-off election to be conducted automaticallyand electronically if no winner emerges from the initial voting.

[0050] A second contest area 110-C of ballot 100 is arranged forconducting cumulative voting wherein the voter may distribute a givennumber of votes among the candidates in his order of preference,typically where more than one candidate is to be elected in a givencontest. Cumulative voting allows the voter to distribute his vote amongany one or more of the candidates rather than being limited to votingfor or not voting for each candidate equally, as in straight voting. Inthis example, five votes may be cast (five mark spaces 112 may bemarked) in the contest and the five votes may be cast for any one ormore candidates. Filling more mark spaces 112 for a candidate indicatesa greater number of votes, and thus a greater preference, for thatcandidate. Thus, five mark spaces 112 are associated with eachcandidate's name and with each write-in candidate 116. One mark space112 is provided to skip the entire contest and/or to abstain 114 for thebalance of that contest, i.e. to intentionally under vote.

[0051] Alternatively to providing plural mark spaces 112 for eachcandidate for conducting ranked and/or cumulative voting, mark space 112may be arranged as a seven-segment mark space 112′ wherein selected onesof the seven segment spaces thereof may be marked to define a numeral.For example, marking the two vertical segments at the left or at theright indicates the number “1”, marking the top, middle and bottomhorizontal segments and the upper right and lower left vertical segmentsindicates the number “2”, marking all seven segments indicated thenumber “8”, and so forth, in like manner to illuminating selectedsegments of a seven-segment display to display numbers.

[0052] The two remaining contest areas 110 of ballot 100 are examples ofstraight voting for two different example contests, one in which twocandidates of eleven are to be elected and the other in which onecandidate is to be elected.

[0053]FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an example ballotgenerating apparatus 200. Apparatus 200 includes a processor forgenerating ballots 100 from information provided thereto either byelection officials entering contest information, candidate informationand the like, i.e. for generating ballot form and/or formats forparticular jurisdictions and/or sub-divisions thereof. The processor maybe the processor included in an electronic voting machine that includesballot generating capability, such as the VOTE-TRAKKER™ direct recordingelectronic voting machine available from Avante InternationalTechnology, Inc. located in Princeton Junction, N.J., described inpatent application Ser. Nos. 09/737,306 and 10/______, or may be acomputer running suitable ballot generating software.

[0054] Ballot printer BP may be a conventional ballot printer thatprints ballots provided it is capable of printing the VID number 120 inmachine- and/or human readable form and of printing the unique randomportion of the VID 120, or may be a printer associated with votingmachine 2M. The actual format of ballots 100 will be in conformance tothe applicable federal, state, county, and/or local legal requirementsfor election ballots, as is the case for conventional optically-scannedballots. Thus, standardized paper sizes, e.g., 8½×11 inches or 8½×14inches or A metric paper, may be utilized, and single-page ballotrequirements, minimum font size standards, candidate ballot spacestandards, and the like, will be met, in a customized and/orconventional ballot format. For example, ballots 100 may be conventionalballots such as a Scantron ballot, which has an array of 48×80elliptical mark spaces on an 8½×11 inch paper ballot, onto which isadded VID number 120 in machine- and/or human-readable form as describedherein.

[0055]FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an example voting apparatusV.C. as shown and described in patent application Ser. Nos. 09/737,306and 10/______, incorporated herein. Voting machine 2M includes aprocessor P for processing information relative to a voter and/or votingand for providing a voting session identifier, a non-volatile memory Mfor storing and providing such information, a display unit DU fordisplaying information to the voter, and a voter interface VI wherebythe voter can enter information into voting machine 2M for processor Pand/or memory M. It is noted that the components of voting machine 2Mare similar to the components of a personal computer and so aconventional personal computer, with or without modification, may beutilized in voting machine 2M, although it is likely that conventionalcomputer components, particularly processor P and memory M, may beutilized in conjunction with displays DU and input devices VI adapted toor customized for the voting machine application, for example, forruggedness, resistance to tampering and/or abuse. In addition, processorP includes a function for providing unique voting session identifiersfor each voting session, for example, a random-number orrandom-character generator RAG or a look-up table or other suitablegenerator. Voter interface VI may be a touch screen and so would providedisplay DU and a keyboard.

[0056] Memory M may also be of any suitable non-volatile memory type.Suitable memory devices include floppy disks, computer hard disk drives,writeable optical disks, memory cards, memory modules and flash memorymodules (such as those utilized in electronic cameras), magnetic andoptical tapes and disks, as well as semiconductor memories such asnon-volatile random-access memory (RAM), programmable read-only memory(PROM), electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)and the like. Memory M or a separate memory contains the operatingsystem, data base and application software that operates processor P asvoting machine 2M.

[0057] Alternatively, various programming information, a voting sessionidentifier generator or list, voting information, candidate and officeinformation and the like may be provided in firmware, such as in anEPROM, which provides additional resistance to tampering and/or hackingattack. Such firmware may be utilized, for example, for controlling thereading and writing of information to optional smart cards SC, thestoring of voting record information in memory M, particularly, aspecific memory device such as a memory chip card, an optical disk ortape, or other electronic, magnetic or optical media. Preferably, memoryM of voting machine 2M includes two independent non-volatile memorydevices so that voting record information and a voting sessionidentifier are stored on two separate, independent memory devices forredundancy and preservation of at least one copy of the accumulatedvoting records in the event one of the memory devices fails or otherwisebecomes inoperative. Desirably, the two non-volatile memories are ofdifferent types, such as a semiconductor memory and a hard disk, or amemory card and an optical disk, or any other convenient combination.

[0058] Voter interface VI may be a standard or custom keyboard, as mayfacilitate write-in voting, or may be dedicated vote buttons or switchessimilar to conventional mechanical voting machines, for example, or maybe a touch-screen interface associated with display unit DU, and istypically connected to processor P via cabling. Special keys can beprovided for voting functions such as “Elect” or “Select” or “Vote,” orfor “Erase” or “Change,” or for “Write-in.” Alternative voter interfacesVI may include voice recognition apparatus, Braille keyboards or pensystems with writing recognition interfaces, each preferably withconfirmation of the data entered displayed on display unit DU or evenaurally via headphones. For a “standard” computer keyboard, for example,it is preferred that the “function keys,” i.e. those keys that can beused for a purpose other than voting, such as to access and/or controlthe operating system and other programs, e.g., the 1F-B12 keys, bedisabled or rendered inoperative, either by software control or physicalmeans.

[0059] In addition, a voter interface VI for allowing visually impairedvoters to vote without assistance may employ a modified standardkeyboard of which only certain keys are responded to in combination withan aural device. E.g., only the four keys (buttons) at the corners of anumeric keypad or the four areas (buttons) in the four corners of atouch screen may be enabled to indicate possible selections such asvote, skip, next, previous, and the like, with audible voiceinstructions and confirmation of buttons pressed provided via aheadphone. A typical function assignment to the corner keys can include:upper right key=“repeat” (to hear voice message again), lower rightkey=“Enter” (to make a selection within the allotted time), lower leftkey=“Cast Vote” (and proceed to the next contest), and upper rightkey=“Increase Speed” (to increase the rate at which contests and/orvoice indications are presented). Any or all of these functional keysmay be exaggerated in size or otherwise made easily distinguished bytactile feel. Such keyboard/button programming is commonly provided bysoftware.

[0060] Display unit DU may be of any suitable type, such as aconventional cathode ray tube or computer display, an LCD display, atouch-screen display or other suitable device, for displayingalphanumeric and/or graphical information, or a set of illuminatedbuttons, as desired, and is typically connected to processor P viacabling. Display unit DU may also include Braille devices, auralinformation via headphones, or other devices specially suited for peoplewith handicaps.

[0061] Operatively associated with or coupled to processor P and memoryM are a printer LP for providing a tangible record of the votingsession, e.g., a printed paper receipt and an optional smart cardreader/writer R.W. for writing and/or reading information from/to asmart card. Preferably, local printer LP and optional reader/writer R.W.are built into the physical container V.C. of voting machine 2M alongwith processor P, memory or memories M, display DU and voter interfaceVI, and that physical container V.C. is rugged and sealable for securityand to prevent unauthorized access to the components therein, therebybeing resistant to tampering. Other voting booth components, such as aprivacy curtain, the opening and closing mechanism therefor, or a floorstand, need not be part of voting machine container V.C., but may bepermanently or demountably attached thereto as is convenient.

[0062] Optional smart card reader/writer R.W. is operatively associatedwith or coupled to processor P and memory M for writing informationincluding at least a unique voting session identifier and a votingrecord into the memory of a smart card SC and optionally for readinginformation, such as voter registration and/or identifying information,from a smart card. Each voting session identifier is arandomly-generated unique identifying or serial number or charactersequence (e.g., a pseudo-random number) of at least eight characters ordigits, and preferably of 12 or more characters or digits. Such votingsession identifiers are generated for each voting session of eachelection, either centrally and then loaded into memories M of votingmachines 2M or by processor P as each voter participates in a votingsession. It may be desirable for the voting session identifiers toinclude additional characters identifying voting district and/or thepolling place and/or the voting machine 2M on which the vote associatedwith the identifying number was cast, and/or the date and time of thevoting session, but not the voter, so as to preserve voter anonymitywhile providing traceability of voting records. If any informationparticular to an individual voter is stored in the memory of smart cardSC, as may be the case where information confirming voter registrationor an identifying PIN number, security code or other personal data isutilized, such information is written over or erased or otherwiserendered permanently unrecoverable either before or at the time thatvoting record and voting session identifier information is stored in thememory of smart card SC by reader/writer R.W. of voting machine 2M.

[0063] For optical ballot voting, voting machine 2M generates a ballotformat 100 for a particular jurisdiction, for example, according to apre-programmed ballot information and/or in response to the votingjurisdiction information corresponding to the voter's VID number (fields381-386) as entered via voter interface VI and/or a smart card andreader R.W., as the case may be. The ballot format is generated byprocessor P as described above and in incorporated patent applicationSer. Nos. 09/737,306 and 10/______, with a format layout for contests110 consistent with local election requirements rather than as a seriesof voting screens. Ballot 100 so generated is printed by printer LP andis provided to the voter, e.g., by hand for provisional voting and/or bymail for absentee voting. Ballots 100 may be printed in advance of anelection and/or may be printed during an election on a demand, i.e. asneeded, basis.

[0064] If reader/writer R.W. is a contact-type reader for use withcontact-type smart cards, then the smart card SC is inserted into slot Sthereof to be read and/or written to. If reader/writer R.W. is awireless or contact-less-type reader for use with wireless orcontact-less-type smart cards, then the smart card SC is placedproximate to antenna AN of reader/writer R.W. to be read from and/orwritten to. If reader/writer R.W. is of a type for use with bothcontact-type and wireless or contact-less type smart cards, then thesmart card SC is inserted into slot S if it is a contact-type smart cardand is placed proximate to antenna AN if it is a wireless-type smartcard, or is either inserted into slot S or is placed proximate antennaAN if it is a so-called “combos-card” that combines both externalcontacts and an internal antenna so that it can be read from or writtento either via contacts or a wireless communication.

[0065] Further, while optional smart card encoder R.W. need only be ableto write information to a smart card, it may also read informationstored in a smart card SC and provide same to processor P. Reader/writerR.W. may also be a decoder to decode information read from a smart cardSC in encrypted or encoded form, and/or may also be a coder thatencrypts or encodes information being written to the smart card SC. Suchencryption and/or encoding may use public key encryption or any othersuitable encryption and/or coding arrangement. Optionally, andpreferably, reader/writer R.W. may include a “take-in” or capturemechanism that grabs smart card SC when it is inserted into slot S and,after the voting record and voting session identifier information isstored in the memory of smart card SC, deposits smart card SC into asecure collection box CB operatively associated with reader/writer R.W.and located in voting machine cabinet V.C. If this option is utilized,and it may be utilized with either contact-type or wireless smart cardsSC, a separate collection box CB and action by each voter to deposit hisor her smart card SC therein is not needed.

[0066] Local printer LP may provide a tangible independent record ofeach individual voter's voting selections associated with the voter'sunique identifying number and/or may be utilized to print ballots 100.Printer LP if utilized for printing voting receipts is of a type thatretains no record of the data printed (e.g., is not a daisy wheel orother printer employing a ribbon or other sheet-type ink source fromwhich information printed may be extracted or reconstructed) such as athermal printer, a dot matrix printer, an ink-jet printer, a bubble jetprinter, a laser printer and the like, which are conventional. Aspecialty or security-type of paper, or other medium makingauthentication of a printed receipt and/or a printed ballot 100 easierand counterfeiting of altering of same more difficult, can be utilized,thereby reducing the likelihood of counterfeiting or fraud. Desirably,printer LP also prints information identifying the election district,the date and time of voting and similar information that may help toauthenticate printed receipt PR and/or optical ballot 100.

[0067] The preferred VOTE-TRAKKER™ voting system and apparatus asillustrated by FIG. 4 is provided in incorporated patent applicationSer. Nos. 09/737,306 and 10/______. Desirably, the VOTE-TRAKKER™ votingsystem and apparatus provides redundancy for voting record and votingsession identifier data in that each vote is recorded by at least oneadditional independent and verifiable means: to wit, by electronicrecording in the memory of a smart card separate from the voting machineand the printed record. This apparatus, and the method it performs, canprovide 100% transparency of each and every vote and can maintain 100%privacy and confidentiality of each and every voter and vote, althoughother embodiments may not do so.

[0068]FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example ballotreader apparatus 1000 for reading machine-readable ballots 100. Ballotreader apparatus 1000 includes reading device 1010 that has an inputcontainer 1020 into which ballots 100 to be read are placed for beingfed through transport path 1030 to an output container 1040 into whichballots 100 that have been read as they pass through transport path 1030are deposited, i.e. are collected. Therebetween, ballot transport path1030 defines a path through which ballots 100 are transported for beingread as they are transported between input container 1020 and outputcontainer 1040. Transport path 1030 includes two readers 1031 and 1032of reader device 1010 which read the information and/or markings onballots 100 as they pass thereby. Preferably, ballots 100 areoptically-read ballots 100 of the sorts illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3A-3Cand readers 1031 and 1032 are optical readers. Member 1034 may be aguide for transport path 1030 that also provides a light shield foroptical readers 1031, 1032.

[0069] It is noted that conventional optical readers have only oneoptical reader and must be preprogrammed with a template correspondingto the particular ballots to be passed therethrough and read, and so theballots must be sorted by jurisdiction and the like so that only ballotsof the same form, i.e. of the form that corresponds to the preprogrammedtemplate, are passed through to be read at any one time. Ballots ofdifferent format must be passed through as separate batches after thecorresponding template therefor has been programmed into the opticalreader. Even if a conventional optical reader were to have two opticalreaders, both optical readers thereof would be programmed for readingthe ballots against the same preprogrammed template, i.e. would be formaking redundant readings for verifying the correctness of eitherreading against one predetermined preprogrammed template.

[0070] On the other hand, reader 1010 includes two readers 1031 and 1032and a processor 1050 that cooperate for reading ballots 100 of differentforms without the need to pre-sort the ballots into groups of like form.Specifically, optical reader 1031 reads ballots 100 for reading the VIDnumber 120 thereon and communicates the VID number 120 to processor1050. Reader 1031 need not read any other part of ballots 100. Processor1050 is responsive to the VID number 120 read from each ballot 100 byreader 1031 to identify and select the ballot template correspondingthereto. Optical reader 1032 reads ballots 100 for reading the markspaces 112 thereon that have been marked for comparison in accordancewith the ballot template selected by processor 1050.

[0071] The VID number 120 read from each ballot 100 by reader 1031should include at least the jurisdictional information fields thereof,e.g., fields 381-386, utilized to identify and select the ballottemplate. Optical reader 1031 should also read the unique random numberfield, e.g., field 387, so that the unique random number portion of VID120 is associated with the stored voting selection information and isavailable for later verification of the ballot and/or of the correctreading thereof, as well as for tracking of his vote by the voter, e.g.,via an Internet or other posting, as described herein. Where VID 120 ison ballot 100 in two different forms, e.g., in machine-readable form andin human-readable form, reader 1000 may have the ability to read bothforms of VID 120, e.g., a bar-code reader and an OCR reader, usually inprocessor 1050.

[0072] Reader 1032 need not read portions of ballot 100 other than thosecontaining valid mark spaces 112 according to the template correspondingto that ballot. The unnecessary portions of ballot 100 not containingvalid mark spaces 112 may either not be read or may be read and thendiscarded while retaining the readings of mark spaces 112. Only imagesof the VID and mark space zones need be obtained and stored fortabulating and/or verifying voting by vote counter 1060. Images of theVID and mark space zones may be stored in any suitable electronic formatincluding but not limited to .BMP, .TIFF, .PDF or any other suitableformat. In this way, the amount of storage capacity needed to store theinformation read from each ballot is substantially reduced because thestandardized information, e.g., names of contests, names of candidates,and the like, are not stored.

[0073] As a result, ballots 100 placed into input container 1020 do nothave to be presorted to be of the same format, but may be of differentformats because readers 1031, 1032 in cooperation with processor 1050determine the proper template to be utilized for reading each ballot 100according to its format. Specifically, because the information in fields381-386 of each VID number 120 printed on each ballot 100 define theparticular voting jurisdiction (e.g., state, county, municipality,precinct, ward and/or political party), they also define the form ofballot 100 for such jurisdiction. From the VID number 120 read byoptical reader 1031, processor 1050 determines the jurisdiction and theballot form therefor and supplies the template therefor for use inconjunction with the pattern of mark spaces 112 marked on ballot 100 fordetermining the voting selections made thereon.

[0074] Simply put and by way of example, reader 1031 reads the VIDnumber 120 from a first ballot 100 of form A and signals same toprocessor 1050 which then provides the mark space template for ballots100 of form A for reading the marked voting selections from first ballot100 read by optical reader 1032. The marked voting selections read byreader 1032 are then tabulated as votes by vote counter 1060. Next,reader 1031 reads the VID number 120 from a second ballot 100 of form Band signals same to processor 1050 which then provides the mark spacetemplate for ballots 100 of form B for reading the marked votingselections from second ballot 100 read by optical reader 1032, whichread marked voting selections are then tabulated as votes by votecounter 1060. Next, reader 1031 reads the VID number 120 from a thirdballot 100 of form C and signals same to processor 1050 which thenprovides the mark space template for ballots 100 of form C for readingthe marked voting selections from third ballot 100 read by opticalreader 1032, which read marked voting selections are then tabulated asvotes by vote counter 1060. If the next ballot is of form B, forexample, reader 1031 reads the VID number 120 from that ballot 100 ofform B and signals same to processor 1050 which then provides the markspace template for ballots 100 of form B for reading the marked votingselections from that ballot 100 read by optical reader 1032, which readmarked voting selections are then tabulated as votes by vote counter1060, and so forth. The process repeats for each ballot read by reader1000 wherein the template for each ballot is selected by processor 1050responsive to the VID number 120 read from that ballot, i.e.,specifically responsive to the jurisdictional information defined infields 121-127 of VID number 120.

[0075] Accordingly, an optical reader for reading paper ballots having ajurisdiction identifier thereon and having voting selections markedthereon, comprises a transport path for transporting paper ballotsbetween an input and an output thereof, a first optical reader forreading the jurisdiction identifier of each paper ballot transported onsaid transport path, and a second optical reader for reading the votingselections marked on each paper ballot transported on said transportpath. A processor receives the jurisdiction identifier read by the firstoptical reader for each paper ballot for selecting a template forreading in accordance with the selected template the voting selectionsmarked on each paper ballot, whereby the voting selections marked oneach paper ballot are read in accordance with a template correspondingto the jurisdiction identifier for that paper ballot.

[0076] In addition and optionally, processor 1050 may include opticalcharacter recognition (OCR) software to provide alphanumeric outputs ofthe information in the VID field read by reader 1031 and/or of write-ininformation in the write-in portions of the voting fields read by reader1032 according to the template selected by processor 1050. It ispreferred that reader 1000 move ballots through transport path 1030 atthe rate of at least about 10-12 inches per second (about 25-30 cm/sec.)so that ballots on either 8½×11 inch paper and/or on A paper may be readat a rate of at least about one ballot per second. It is also preferredthat readers 1031 and 1032 have a resolution of at least about 100 dpior greater, and it is desirable in some cases that reader 1000 providedual-side document scanning.

[0077] Reader 1000 may be utilized at a polling place or other votinglocation for “checking” ballots marked by voters prior to their beingvoted, i.e. officially deposited into a collection container. In thiscase, vote counter 1060 is eliminated and no record of the actual votingselections marked is retained; processor 1050 processes only the VIDnumber 120 and the mark space 112 regions to select the correspondingballot template and to verify that the proper number of mark spaces havebeen marked for each contest and/or question.

[0078] Reader 1000 in checking a ballot preferably signals or otherwiseprovides a notice or indication if a ballot is under voted (i.e. lessthan the required number of spaces have been marked for eachcontest/question) or is over voted (i.e. more than the required numberof spaces have been marked for each contest/question, which mayinvalidate a vote in a contest/question or may invalidate an entireballot) or is otherwise incorrectly marked. Ballot checking may beutilized with straight voting, ranked voting, and/or cumulative votingsimilarly, e.g., indicating if improper ranking has been marked and/orif the wrong number of cumulative votes have been marked. While suchchecking function advances the goal that ballots reflect voter intent,it can reduce but not eliminate under voting and over voting; however,it will at least give the voter an opportunity to correct such conditionor at least indicate an intentional “no vote” if a “No Vote” or“Abstain” mark space 112 is marked.

[0079] Reader 1000 utilized for ballot checking may also have a printerassociated therewith for providing a tangible voting record, e.g., aprinted receipt, to each voter, as described in patent application Ser.Nos. 09/737,306 and 10/______. Desirably, such printed receipt includesthe complete VID 120 including the unique random portion 381 so that thevoter may track and verify his vote where the voting results areavailable via an Internet and/or other posting including the VID.Preferably, the VID read from the read ballot is printed on the receipt.If the receipt includes a record of the voter's voting selections, thereceipt also provides an immediate confirmation that the ballot can beread and of the voting selections marked, whereby the voter may seekcorrection of any error and/or omission prior to voting his ballot.

[0080] While the reader arrangement described in the immediatelypreceding paragraphs is preferred, optical ballots 100 including a VIDnumber as described herein may be sorted and read by conventionalreaders in the conventional manner, assuming, of course, that theelection officials are willing and able to sort the paper ballots intogroups of like form and to program the conventional readers for eachparticular ballot form before running ballots of that form therethroughfor counting. Ballot readers as described herein may utilize all or partof conventional ballot readers and/or may utilize parts of conventionaloffice equipment such as copiers, scanners, facsimile (fax) machines,and other commercial imaging and/or scanning devices, and the like,e.g., for imaging and/or optically reading the information contained onan optically-readable paper ballot.

[0081] Examples of conventional ballot readers include the PAGES CAN IIreader available from Peripheral Dynamics, Inc. located in PlymouthMeeting, Pa., and the SCANMARK ES2800 reader available from Scantronlocated in Tustin, Calif. Examples of commercial imaging scannersinclude types DR5020 and DR5080 available from Canon Electronics, Inc.located in Japan, and type IS330DC available from Ricoh Company locatedin Japan. Examples of commercial printers suitable for ballot printinginclude the ImageRUNNER 600 and 105 available from Canon Electronics,Inc., and similar equipment available from Hewlett Packard of Palo Alto,Calif. and Fujitsu of Japan.

[0082]FIG. 8 is a schematic flow diagram of an example ballot readingprocess 300 compatible with the apparatus of FIG. 7. Process 300commences with passing 310 the voted ballots through a ballot reader,e.g., along a transport path of an optical scan reader, wherein theballots do not need to be, but may be, sorted according to jurisdictionsand/or ballot formats. The ballots are individually and seriallyread/imaged and the voting information thereon is read/decoded viaeither of alternative processes 320 a or 320 b. Path 320 a comprisesimaging 321 each ballot and then decoding the voting selectioninformation thereon in two decoding steps 323, 327. Path 320 b comprisesreading the ballots in two steps 322, 326, wherein the voting selectioninformation is read in second reading step 326. In either path, theballot template (e.g., a set of computer instructions and/or statementsand/or data defining a pattern of ballot mark spaces for a ballot) forreading/decoding the voting information is selected responsive to thevoting identifier and/or ballot identifier read/decoded in the firstreading/decoding step 322, 323.

[0083] Ballot imaging process 320 a comprises imaging 321 the ballot toacquire an image of the voting information thereon and then decoding 323a ballot identifier (e.g., VID) from the ballot image. While the entireballot identifier (e.g., VID) may be decoded, only that portion thereofthat contains jurisdiction information (e.g., ones of fields 381-386)need be decoded; decoding the unique random identifier portion (e.g.,field 387) is optional). The decoded identifier correlates to aparticular ballot format represented by a ballot template, and theballot template corresponding to the decoded identifier is selected 325from a database or other collection and/or set of ballot templates fordecoding 327 the voting selection information from the ballot imagepreviously imaged 321. Thus, each ballot of a mixed set of ballots isread (decoded) according to a template corresponding to the particularballot format to obtain the voting selection information thereon.

[0084] Ballot imaging process 320 b comprises reading 322 the ballot toread a ballot identifier (e.g., VID) thereon, typically in a predefinedlocation, area or region of the ballot. While the entire ballotidentifier (e.g., VID) may be read, only that portion thereof thatcontains jurisdiction information (e.g., ones of fields 381-386) need beread; reading the unique random identifier portion (e.g., field 387) isoptional). The read identifier correlates to a particular ballot formatrepresented by a ballot template, and the ballot template correspondingto the read identifier is selected 324 from a database or othercollection and/or set of ballot templates for reading 326 the votingselection information from the ballot. While the entire ballot may beread 326, only that portion containing voting selection informationaccording to the selected template 324 need be read. Thus, each ballotof a mixed set of ballots is read according to a template correspondingto the particular ballot format to obtain the voting selectioninformation thereon.

[0085] It is noted that the foregoing reading/imaging 321, 322, 323,326, 327 of the VID and voting selections, and the template selecting324, 325, and/or the tabulating 330 and storing 332, may be performed in“real-time” as each ballot is read, i.e., the voting selections areread/decoded, stored 332 and tabulated 330 substantiallycontemporaneously with the ballot passing through reader 1010.Alternatively, the VID and voting selections read/imaged 321, 322, 326may be stored in “real-time” as each ballot passes through reader 1010,and the template selecting 324, 325, the decoding/reading 322, 323, 326,327 of the stored VID and voting selections, and the tabulating 330 andstoring 332 thereof may be performed after some or all of the ballotshave passed through reader 1010, i.e. delayed in time.

[0086] The voting selection information read/decoded 326, 327 istabulated 330 for counting the vote and determining an electionoutcome/result. The read/decoded 326, 327 voting selection informationmay be stored 332, e.g., for later verification, auditing, confirmationand/or comparison with the paper ballots and the like, and may beprinted and/or otherwise published 334, in whole or in part, inconnection therewith. The steps of tabulating 330, storing 332 and/orprinting/publishing 334 may be either or without the voter identifier(e.g., VID) and/or other ballot identifier.

[0087] An advantage may obtain, however, where the tabulated 330 and/orstored 332 voter selection information is associated with the identifierwhere the identifier is not related and/or relatable to the identity ofa particular voter, i.e. the voter remains anonymous. In such case,particular ballots can be inspected against the electronic recordswithout compromising voter anonymity and privacy, including publishingvoting results on a ballot-by ballot basis, e.g., via the Internet, asdescribed in incorporated patent application Ser. Nos. 09/737,306 and10/______. Such ability to verify that a ballot has been received andhas been counted could be desirable for absentee and/or provisionalvoters, as well as for general voting.

[0088]FIG. 9 is a schematic flow diagram of an example process 400 forgenerating the ballots of FIGS. 1, 3A-3C and 4. In process 400, a ballotis generated 410, 410′ including the contests and/or questions to bepresented to the voters generated from information entered by electionofficials prior to an election. Typically, election officials generate adatabase 408 of ballot forms (styles) for the various jurisdictions,districts, polling locations and the like, and in the case of a primary,for each political party, each being associated with a particularjurisdictional portion of the voter identifier (VID). In printingballots, the appropriate form/style is selected from the database 408thereof in accordance with the jurisdictional portion of a particularVID, e.g., ballot generation as described herein and/or in incorporatedpatent application Ser. Nos. 09/737,306 and 10/______.

[0089] Ballots may be generated 410 with a complete voter identifier(VID), i.e. an identifier including the jurisdictional information(e.g., fields 381-386) and a unique random identifier (e.g., field 387),and printed 412 as a set of unique ballots, either in advance of anelection and/or “on-demand” in an election. Ballots may be generated410′ with a partial voter identifier (VID), i.e. an identifier includingthe jurisdictional information (e.g., fields 381-386), and printed 412′as a set of identical ballots either in advance of an election (e.g.,conventional printing) and/or “on-demand” in an election. Such ballotsmay be utilized directly, i.e. without the unique identifier portion ofthe VID, or a unique random identifier (e.g., field 387) portion of avoter identifier may be generated 414 and may be printed 416 on theballots to provide a set of unique ballots and/or may be printed onlabels to be affixed to the printed ballots at a later time. A list ofthe voter identifiers utilized on ballots may be retained, e.g., in adatabase on a computer, for later use in verifying and/or authenticatingvoted ballots received 424, and may be without compromising voteranonymity and privacy where no record is kept that could relate aparticular ballot to a particular voter. Further, printed ballotsincluding the VID may be placed into envelopes, e.g., absentee ballotsplaced into mailing envelopes, by automating equipment to reduce thepossibility of human action that may compromise privacy and/oranonymity.

[0090] In either case, the printed ballots with a complete VID and/orwith a partial jurisdictional VID are distributed 420 for being utilizedby voters in voting in an election in accordance with the applicableelection procedure, e.g., by marking their voting selections in the markspaces provided. It is noted that the ballots may be distributed 420 inadvance of an election, e.g., as absentee ballots, may be distributed420 during an election as the usual ballot for all voters, e.g., atpolling locations on an election day or days, and/or may be distributed420 to particular voters, e.g., to voters voting provisionally.

[0091] Marked (voted) ballots are received 424, e.g., by electionofficials, the ballots having been submitted by mail, in-person or otherdelivery method, e.g., in the case of absentee ballots, by deposit inballot containers or delivery to an election official at a pollinglocation or other designated location, e.g., as the usual ballots votedand/or as provisional ballots. Ballots voted as absentee and/orprovisional are typically sealed in a plain opaque envelope after thevoter marks his voting selections thereon and the plain envelope is thensealed inside an opaque outer envelope on which is marked the voter'sname and address, the election, jurisdiction, date, and/or otherparticulars, and a voter signature, and/or the identification andsignature of a witness. Each ballot is verified 430, i.e. theinformation on the outer envelope is utilized by election officials todetermine whether the ballot sealed therein should be opened andcounted. Such determination may include, e.g., whether the voter iseligible to vote, whether the voter signature on the envelope matchesthe voter signature in the voter registration records, and/or whetherthe ballot is a valid ballot for the particular election (possiblyincluding whether the ballot is a duplicate of another vote in the nameof the voter).

[0092] The verified (qualified) received ballots are then read asdescribed herein (e.g., see FIGS. 7 and 8) and tabulated 430, withoutthe need for being sorted by election and/or ballot style and/orjurisdiction before reading and tabulating 430, to determine the resultor outcome of the voting. Before and/or during the reading andtabulating 430, the ballots may be verified/authenticated by comparingthe complete VID number on each ballot against a list of valid VIDnumbers for the election, e.g., a computer database listing the VID ofeach issued ballot, and/or by manual inspection by an election official.

[0093] The result/outcome of the election is certified and/or published432 as required by the applicable election laws. Preferably, thetabulating 430 of voted ballots preserves the specific voting selectionsread from each ballot and the associated VID (e.g., voting record) ofthat ballot, as well as tallying the vote totals for determining theelection outcome, and a listing of the voting selections and VID (votingrecord) from all ballots are published where the public can access same,e.g., on a bulletin board, in a printed publication and/or on anInternet web site. Thus, each voter knowing his VID can access thelisting and find the vote recorded from his ballot by its VID and cansatisfy himself that his vote has been counted and nas been countedcorrectly and accurately. Where the voter retains a copy of his ballotand/or is issued a voting receipt, such may be utilized for correctingan incorrectly recorded vote and/or an improperly disqualified ballotwhere permitted by applicable law.

[0094]FIG. 10 is a schematic flow diagram of an example voting process500 utilizing the ballot of FIGS. 1, 3A-3C and 4. Voting districtspecific ballots are generated 510 and distributed 512 for being voted.Voters vote 514 by marking the mark spaces on the ballot correspondingto their desired voting selections (votes) and submit their ballots inaccordance with applicable election procedure. A voter may copy 516 hismarked ballot for later checking that his vote was counted and wascounted properly. Voted ballots are received 520 and the received votedballots are authenticated 522 before being read and counted. All theforegoing may be as described in relation to FIG. 9.

[0095] Authenticated (valid) ballots are read (scanned) 524 to read theVID number printed thereon and the voting selections marked thereon,i.e. the voting selections marked on each ballot are read according to aballot template corresponding to the jurisdictional portion of the VIDselected based upon the jurisdictional portion of the VID read 524 fromeach ballot. Write-in votes are preferably read and processed 525 byoptical character recognition (OCR) software for computer tabulation,and/or ballots having write-in votes may be separated for manualprocessing (e.g. manual deciphering and posting) 525 and/or inspectionand/or verification. As described, ballots are read 524 according toballot templates selected based upon the read VID and so do not need tobe sorted by jurisdiction and/or style prior to reading 524.

[0096] Ballots over-voted (i.e. wherein more mark spaces than arepermitted to be marked have been marked) may be disposed 526 by beingseparated or ejected for manual inspection and/or invalidation, and/orthe valid portions of the voting selections may be recorded andtabulated 530, depending on the treatment of over-voted ballots underapplicable law. Some jurisdictions invalidate only the voting selectionsmade in over-voted contests and other jurisdictions invalidate an entireballot containing any over-vote. Ballots under-voted (i.e. wherein fewermark spaces than are permitted to be marked have been marked) may berecorded separately 526 and/or the under-vote may be recorded separately526 (e.g., for review and/or for statistical purposes), and the votingselections thereon are recorded and tabulated 530, and/or under-votedballots may be separated for manual inspection, depending on thetreatment of under-voted ballots under applicable law. Further, the readand/or imaged information for each under- and/or over-voted ballot maybe printed out for review by election officials.

[0097] The voting selections from read 524 ballots is recorded 530including the VID number from each ballot, i.e. the voting selectionsand VID of each ballot are recorded and stored as an individual votingrecord, and the voting selections therefrom are also tabulated 530 todetermine the result of voting. Preferably, the information read fromeach ballot, e.g., voting record of voting selections and VID, arestored in plural separate and independent memory devices, e.g., harddrives, flash memories, optical CD-ROM and the like, as described inincorporated patent application Ser. Nos. 09/737,306 and 10/______, forpreservation with the original paper ballots in accordance withapplicable procedures.

[0098] When the voting results tabulations are properly verified, theresult is certified 532 as official. Thereafter, the certified resultsmay be posted/published 534, e.g., on an Internet web site, includingboth the tabulated 530 result and/or the voting records including VID ofeach individual ballot, thereby enabling any voter knowing his VID,e.g., from a ballot copy and/or a printed voting receipt, to review 540the voting record corresponding to that VID to ascertain whether it wascounted and, if counted, whether it was correctly counted. Theposted/published 534 voting records can include not only those votingrecords for ballots that were authenticated 522 and thus counted 524,530, but may also include the voting records for ballots that weredisqualified or otherwise not counted and/or not completely countedand/or the fact that the ballot of that VID was disqualified or was notcounted and/or not completely counted.

[0099] In connection with the steps of reading 524, recording andtabulating 530 and/or the processing of write-in, under and over-votes525, 526, 528, for example, election officials may be provided withadministrative and management tools, such as user rights and levels ofaccess, passwords and the like, the keeping of logs of events and/oractions performed, functions to export (e.g., by electronic filetransfer and/or via floppy disks, CD-ROMs and other tangible media) allor part of the files of vote tabulations, voting records, votestatistics and the like, and/or for the printing of various reportsand/or forms, such as vote tallies, voting reports, vote certificationforms and the like.

[0100] While the VID information may be provided to the voter on a paperballot and/or on a paper or other identification card, or may be enteredby an election official at the election office and/or polling place forprinting on a ballot, VID information may be coded into the memory of asmart card and the voting machine may include a smart card reader forreading the coded VID stored therein where the voting machine isutilized to print an optically scan-able ballot including the VID.Identification of the voter at the time for voting may utilize the VIDinformation stored in the voter's smart card, or may be by traditionalidentification methods, such as signature verification, conventionallyutilized by various jurisdictions.

[0101] Alternatively, a unique identifier stored in the voting machinemay be read into the voter's smart card and may either supplement orreplace the voter number stored therein at issuance, whereby thepre-stored voter number may be used to verify registration and/or theunique identifier may be utilized to preserve voter anonymity andprivacy. Preferably for voter privacy, only the unique identifier, e.g.,VID, is stored in the voter smart card and/or on a printed allot at thecompletion of a voting session. A database of unique identifiers validonly for a particular election may be pre-loaded into the votingmachines and/or vote tabulating machines prior to that election, and/orsmart cards may be collected when voted, for security.

[0102] While the present invention has been described in terms of theforegoing exemplary embodiments, variations within the scope and spiritof the present invention as defined by the claims following will beapparent to those skilled in the art. For example, while the VID numberof a ballot must be machine readable for automatic tabulation of votes,the machine-readable VID may be the same as the desirable human-readableVID, i.e. alphanumeric characters readable by people as well as machines(e.g., readers having OCR) may be utilized.

[0103] Further, the VID may include any one or more of the fieldsdescribed and/or additional or different fields, as may be appropriateand/or desirable. Each voter identifier (VID) includes one or morefields containing a representation of jurisdictional information and/ora ballot form, and may include one or more fields containing a uniquerandom portion. A voter identifier may also be referred to as a ballotidentifier and/or a voting session identifier, e.g., where the ballot isgenerated with an identifier in a voting session of an election, i.e. inrecording a voter's vote.

[0104] While paper ballots are most commonly read by optical scanningwhen the ballot passes a light source and the marked/unmarked state ofthe mark regions is sensed by an associated light detector, marking maybe detected by other means such as a mechanical and/or electricalsensing and detecting means.

[0105] In addition, while the apparatus and method herein are typicallydescribed in relation to voting apparatus having a user interface, e.g.,a display and a data entry device such as a touch screen, either or bothmay be eliminated and/or rendered inoperative, if desired, and replacedby the optical ballot reading apparatus such as that described.

What is claimed is:
 1. A machine readable ballot comprising: a ballotsheet having a voting identifier region thereon wherein a votingidentifier includes a representation of jurisdiction information and aunique ballot identifier, said ballot sheet also having a plurality ofcontest regions thereon, each contest region having two or more markspaces therein for making voting selections; wherein the contest regionscorrespond to contests in the jurisdiction represented by thejurisdiction information, and wherein the representation of jurisdictioninformation and the mark spaces are machine readable.
 2. The machinereadable ballot of claim 1 wherein the voting identifier includes one ormore of a bar code, a two-dimensional bar code, a prescribed font,optical character recognition (OCR) characters, alphanumeric characters,non-alphanumeric characters, and symbols.
 3. The machine readable ballotof claim 1 wherein machine readable includes optically readable, whereinthe representation of jurisdiction information and the mark spaces areoptically readable.
 4. The machine readable ballot of claim 1 whereinthe jurisdiction information of the voting identifier identifies atemplate corresponding to the two or more mark spaces for making votingselections in each of the plurality of contest regions.
 5. The machinereadable ballot of claim 1 wherein the jurisdiction information relatesto any two or more of a country, a state, a county, a city, a town, amunicipality, a voting precinct, a voting district, a voting ward, apolling location, and/or a political party.
 6. The machine readableballot of claim 1 wherein the mark spaces for making voting selectionsinclude mark spaces for one or more of a “no vote,” an “abstain,” a“skip contest,” and/or a write in selection.
 7. The machine readableballot of claim 1 wherein the jurisdiction information and the uniqueballot identifier are not related to the identity of any individualvoter.
 8. The machine readable ballot of claim 1 wherein thejurisdiction information and the unique ballot identifier arerepresented by characters that are machine readable and are humanreadable.
 9. The machine readable ballot of claim 1 wherein a pluralityof mark spaces are provided for each voting selection of at least onecontest, wherein the plurality of mark spaces are for cumulative voting,ranked voting, and/or instant run-off voting.
 10. An optical reader forreading paper ballots having a jurisdiction identifier thereon andhaving voting selections marked thereon, comprising: a transport pathfor transporting paper ballots; means for imaging each paper ballottransported on said transport path including imaging the jurisdictionidentifier thereof and the voting selections marked thereon; and aprocessor for receiving the imaged jurisdiction identifier for eachpaper ballot for selecting a template and for recording the votingselections marked on each paper ballot in accordance with the selectedtemplate, whereby the voting selections marked on each paper ballot areimaged and recorded in accordance with a template corresponding to thejurisdiction identifier for that paper ballot.
 11. The optical reader ofclaim 10 wherein said means for imaging comprises: a first opticalreader for imaging the jurisdiction identifier of each paper ballottransported on said transport path; and a second optical reader forimaging the voting selections marked on each paper ballot in accordancewith the selected template.
 12. The optical reader of claim 10 whereinsaid means for imaging comprises: an optical imager for imaging eachpaper ballot transported on said transport path; means for decoding thejurisdiction identifier of the image of each paper ballot; and means fordecoding the voting selections marked on each paper ballot in accordancewith the selected template.
 13. The optical reader of claim 10 furthercomprising means for tabulating the jurisdiction identifier and thevoting selections marked on each paper ballot in accordance with ajurisdiction represented by the jurisdiction identifier and the selectedtemplate.
 14. The optical reader of claim 10 wherein the paper ballotseach have a corresponding unique ballot identifier, and wherein saidprocessor records the the voting selections imaged from each paperballot and the corresponding jurisdiction identifier and unique ballotidentifier of that paper ballot.
 15. The optical reader of claim 14further comprising means for publishing the voting selections read fromeach of the paper ballots and the corresponding jurisdiction identifierand unique ballot identifier of that paper ballot.
 16. An optical readerfor reading paper ballots having a jurisdiction identifier thereon andhaving voting selections marked thereon, comprising: a transport pathfor transporting paper ballots; a first optical reader for reading thejurisdiction identifier of each paper ballot transported on saidtransport path; a processor for receiving the jurisdiction identifierread by said first optical reader for each paper ballot for selecting atemplate for reading in accordance with the selected template the votingselections marked on each paper ballot, and a second optical reader forreading the voting selections marked on each paper ballot in accordancewith the selected template, whereby the voting selections marked on eachpaper ballot are read in accordance with a template corresponding to thejurisdiction identifier for that paper ballot.
 17. The optical reader ofclaim 16 further comprising means for tabulating the jurisdictionidentifier and the voting selections marked on each paper ballot inaccordance with a jurisdiction represented by the jurisdictionidentifier and the selected template.
 18. The optical reader of claim 10wherein the paper ballots each have a corresponding unique ballotidentifier, and wherein said processor records the the voting selectionsread from each paper ballot and the corresponding jurisdictionidentifier and unique ballot identifier read from that paper ballot. 19.The optical reader of claim 18 further comprising means for publishingthe voting selections read from each paper ballot and the correspondingjurisdiction identifier and unique ballot identifier read from thatpaper ballot.
 20. An optical reader for reading paper ballots having ajurisdiction identifier thereon and having voting selections markedthereon, comprising: a transport path for transporting paper ballots; anoptical imager for imaging each paper ballot transported on saidtransport path; means for decoding the jurisdiction identifier of theimage of each paper ballot; a processor for receiving the decodedjurisdiction identifier of each paper ballot for selecting a templatefor decoding in accordance with the selected template the votingselections marked on each paper ballot; and means for decoding thevoting selections marked on each paper ballot in accordance with theselected template, whereby the voting selections marked on each paperballot are decoded in accordance with a template corresponding to thejurisdiction identifier for that paper ballot.
 21. The optical reader ofclaim 20 further comprising means for tabulating the jurisdictionidentifier and the voting selections marked on each paper ballot inaccordance with a jurisdiction represented by the jurisdictionidentifier and the selected template.
 22. The optical reader of claim 20wherein the paper ballots each have a corresponding unique ballotidentifier, and wherein said processor records the the voting selectionsimaged from each paper ballot and the corresponding jurisdictionidentifier and unique ballot identifier imaged from that paper ballot.23. The optical reader of claim 22 further comprising means forpublishing the voting selections imaged from each paper ballot and thecorresponding jurisdiction identifier and unique ballot identifierimaged from that paper ballot.
 24. A method for optically reading paperballots having a jurisdiction identifier thereon and having votingselections marked thereon, comprising: transporting paper ballots alonga transport path; reading the jurisdiction identifier of each paperballot transported along the transport path; selecting a templateresponsive to the read jurisdiction identifier for reading in accordancewith the selected template the voting selections marked on each paperballot; and reading the voting selections marked on each paper ballottransported along the transport path in accordance with the selectedtemplate, whereby the voting selections marked on each paper ballot areread in accordance with a selected template corresponding to thejurisdiction identifier for that paper ballot.
 25. The method of claim24 wherein the paper ballots have different jurisdiction identifiers,and wherein the paper ballots are not sorted according to thejurisdiction identifier prior to said transporting.
 26. The method ofclaim 24 wherein said selecting and said reading the voting selectionsmarked on each paper ballot are performed substantiallycontemporaneously with said transporting of the paper ballots.
 27. Themethod of claim 24 further comprising: comparing the voting selectionsread from each ballot to the selected template for providing anindication of an under vote and/or an over vote of each paper ballot;and/or tabulating the voting selections read from each of the paperballots.
 28. The method of claim 27 wherein said tabulating the votingselections read from each of the paper ballots includes tabulating thevoting selections according to a jurisdiction represented by eachjurisdiction identifier.
 29. The method of claim 24 wherein the paperballots each have a corresponding unique ballot identifier, and whereinsaid reading the jurisdiction identifier includes reading thecorresponding unique ballot identifier.
 30. The method of claim 29further comprising publishing the voting selections read from each paperballot and the corresponding jurisdiction identifier and unique ballotidentifier of that paper ballot.
 31. A method for reading paper ballotshaving a jurisdiction identifier thereon and having voting selectionsmarked thereon, comprising: transporting paper ballots along a transportpath; imaging each paper ballot transported along the transport path;decoding the jurisdiction identifier of the image of each paper ballot;selecting responsive to the decoded jurisdiction identifier a templatefor decoding the voting selections marked on each paper ballot; anddecoding the voting selections marked on each paper ballot in accordancewith the selected template, whereby the voting selections marked on eachpaper ballot are decoded in accordance with a template corresponding tothe jurisdiction identifier for that paper ballot.
 32. The method ofclaim 31 wherein the paper ballots have different jurisdictionidentifiers, and wherein the paper ballots are not sorted according tothe jurisdiction identifier prior to said transporting.
 33. The methodof claim 31 wherein said selecting and said decoding the votingselections marked on each paper ballot are performed substantiallycontemporaneously with said transporting of the paper ballots.
 34. Themethod of claim 31 further comprising: comparing the voting selectionsdecoded from each ballot to the selected template for providing anindication of an under vote and/or an over vote of each paper ballot;and/or tabulating the voting selections decoded from each of the paperballots.
 35. The method of claim 34 wherein said tabulating the votingselections decoded from each of the paper ballots includes tabulatingthe voting selections according to a jurisdiction represented by eachjurisdiction identifier.
 36. The method of claim 31 wherein the paperballots each have a corresponding unique ballot identifier, and whereinsaid decoding the jurisdiction identifier includes decoding thecorresponding unique ballot identifier.
 37. The method of claim 36further comprising publishing the voting selections decoded from eachpaper ballot and the corresponding jurisdiction identifier and uniqueballot identifier decoded from that paper ballot.
 38. A reader forreading ballots comprising: a transport path for transporting ballots;means for reading each ballot transported on said transport pathincluding imaging a jurisdiction identifier thereof and votingselections marked thereon; and a processor for receiving thejurisdiction identifier for each ballot for selecting a template and forrecording the voting selections marked on each ballot in accordance withthe selected template, whereby the voting selections marked on eachballot are read and recorded in accordance with a template correspondingto the jurisdiction identifier for that ballot.
 39. A method for readingballots comprising: transporting the ballots on a reader transport path;reading each ballot transported on said transport path including readinga jurisdiction identifier thereof and voting selections marked thereon;and processing the jurisdiction identifier for each ballot for selectinga template; and recording the voting selections marked on each ballot inaccordance with the selected template, whereby the voting selectionsmarked on each ballot are read and recorded in accordance with atemplate corresponding to the jurisdiction identifier for that ballot.